1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a group print containing a main frame and a plurality of smaller sub frames that relate to the main frame, and a print system for making the group print.
2. Background Arts
According to a recent print system, an index print is provided in addition to a series of standard photo-prints made from picture frames recorded on a filmstrip, to show small size abridged pictures of all the frames on a sheet.
Since the same size frames are arranged in a simple matrix, and the quality of each picture on the index print are low, the index print is only useful as an index. Furthermore, it is difficult to observe the detail of each picture frame on the index print. To check the detail, it is necessary to observe the individual photo-prints. However, it is difficult to see correlations between the individual picture frames just by observing the individual photo-prints.
In view of the foregoing, an object of the present invention is to provide a print system that provides a print which allows to observe the detail of each picture frame and shows a relation with other picture frames as well, and is also attractive as a graphic art.
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a group print containing a main frame and a plurality of sub frames that are smaller than the main frame and arranged adjacent to the main frame, that is, on one side or on two or three sides of the main frame or around the main frame. The sub frames contains pictures that relate to a picture printed as the main frame. According to a preferred embodiment, the sub frames are those picture frames photographed in series with the main frame, that is, before and/or after the main frame on the same image recording medium, e.g. a filmstrip.
The group print according to the present invention makes it possible to observe the detail of the picture of the main frame, and also shows the relation of the main frame with other pictures as well as the correlation between other pictures. The group print may contain two or more main frames thereon. The sub frames may have different size from each other. By modifying the number, size and layout of the sub frames appropriately, the group print becomes not only useful but also attractive. It is preferable to extract those pictures as the sub frames which belong to the same group as the picture of the main frame.
An apparatus for producing print image data that is used for printing the group print is comprised of a device for selecting the main frame from among a plurality of picture frames; a device for selecting the sub frames from among those picture frames which relate to the main frame; and a device for synthesizing image data of the main and sub frames in accordance with a predetermined group print format to produce the print image data, such that the main frame is merged in a main frame print area, and the sub frames are reduced in size and merged in a sub frame print area that is located adjacent to the main frame print area.
The image data may be detected by use of a film scanner from the picture frames when they are photographed on a filmstrip. Alternatively, when the picture frames are photographed by a digital camera or the like, the image data from the digital camera is processed to produce the print image data for the group print.